The Republican journal., 1887-11-24

allows itself also to be harrcssctl to q small
carriage and to draw & lively, laughing
group of children in it over the garden,
Julicttc, the female elephant who was
Romeo'a companion and escaped tho sham
blcs during the siege. still walks her beaten
path with a living load, as il former years;
followed or preceded by c:,!ncls, dron.o-
carries, horses, ponies, yaks, coats, l-mae,
ETC., yokcd to all manner Of vehicles
Tho Aahantee troupe consists Of thirteen
men, most of them being warriors, four mar
ried women and two girls. Tho chief, Umquc
Lantoba, 81 years of age, is very powerful
looking man. The two girls, Bundgcr and
Nannsi Zooloo, are, respectively, 16 and IL.
Nannsi is very pretty and passes for q beauty
at Coomassic. Bundigcr is nicknanlcd ''thc
elephant" by her comrades, rot on acc sunt of
her size, for she is the smallest Of the troupc,
but from a peculiar wabblc in her gait. They
arc not SO dark skinned as the f1ubians, so1na
in fact Gro Of deep hazel color only. The
warriors costume consist; of skins round The
loins, and their heads a.c adorned with
feathers and small buffalo hcris. The
women arc plcntifulIy orna:ncnt,,l with
shells, which circle round the breast and
body and they have d very pretty fashion of
plating their short, gsooly hair in parallel
paits up to the top of the head.
Tho Ashantees, as E.ngli:h,nc,. know to
their cost, arc tho most numerous vigorous
and warlikc Of al tho native African tribes.
At intervals in the day the whole caravan
goes through very curious performance,
which includes singing, I; sword dance, the
firing Of arrows high into tho air, a mystic
ceremony and wrestling. The easy and rapid
way i'll which the warriors flourish their
"elShty swords implies strength of muscle
i'll the arm altogether unknown to ourselves
In tho sword dance they gradually wind
themselves up to pitch OF frenzy quite ui,-
comfortable to the spectator, who nervotlsly
Eceps time with his foot to the strum str,lm
OF tho musical Instruments and the wild,
weird chant of tho men and women
Eli. Hood, who is i'll charge OF tho troupe,
gave mo some interesting facts about them
Before could get them to come" began
Mr. Hood, Il had to indemnify Kari Kari
whom tho English call King Coifcc-alm CT
ter into an engagement with tho British
authorities at Cape Coast castle to bring
them safely bacI, homo again. There arc
nineteen OF them Ninc hail from Coonasic
the capital of Ashantcc; five are natives Of
hoEofan, and five Of Liberia. They speak
the Fantcc tongue. They arc supposed to be
originally of the sc,nc race as tho Fantcc-
who arc established nearer the Gold coast.
Tho separation of the Fintccs and tsl,a1tcc:;
is ascribed to q famine, whic,. dro;c the
former south and led tllcil u I've ,n fan, o..
herbs, while the latter @liisistcG on san, or
Indian corn; hence their names
"Ashantce proper is covered with almost
lHpenctrable forestt, the routes through
which consist merely of narrow, winding
tracts, where. though it i; possible fcr & l1an
to ride, or q palanquin to be carried 10
wagon Of any description could pass. Many
OF the trees attain splendid proportions, but
the monotony Is oppressive, and is hardly
ever relieved by the sight Of either bird ol.
beast. The country round the towns in tho
interior is cultivated with caro-, the fields be-
ing kept clean, and yielding in abundance
grain, yams, vegetables and fruits
Tho Ashantccs ere very slsillful, ps1rticu-
larly in weaving the greet African fabric Of
cotton. Thcirpottcry and works in cold also
show skill, though surpassed by those pro
duced in the moro southern countries. That
man there" (pointin:5 TO KoaAu} SIS q gold
smith. and a first class hand at silver plate
work. Not The least remarkable objects
fashioned by him aro masks Of beaten gold
for the kings palace ut at Cooinassic
Tho lower orders are held in complete
thlalldom, and Liable to lie pat to death or
sold into slavery at the viii OF the chiefs
The king is supreme master and it is well
that it is SO, IS otherwise anarchy would i'll
stantly s:lnerycnc. The people require a.
iron hand to keep tholn down; they arc like
children, nay, worse, Ike grown I'D tolboys;
strong. cruel, yindictivc, who arc only kc)5
quiet from the fear Of having thor heads cut
of
The dreadful system Of human r2crifiac
which exists among then is founded OIL
wild idea of picty toward parents aud other
connections the chiefs fancying that the
rank of their dead relatives in the future
world viii be measured by the number of at
tcndants sent after them. Thus when the
king dies wholesale slaughter takes place
There arc two periods, called the Great Adai
and Little Attai, succeeding each other at in
tervals of eighteen and twenty-four days, at
which human victims, chiefly prisoners of
war or condemned criminals, are often i'm
molated to 4 hlonstrolls extent. On the Great
Adai, which always falls Oh a Sunday. tho
king visits the lj,.ri2l grounds Of the princes
and the royal Eausoltli;a at Bantaina where
the skeletons Of his predecessors, their bones
held together by links of gold, sit in grim
mockery of state.
''Fctici.isn is their religion Como this
way, Will show you aii idol. There are t"o
huts, you sec, on the Grounl yondcr built by
the troupe on their arrival. One is for the
men and tho other for tho women At the
door of the womcns hut, TO the left On enter
ing, is Abiya, the twin goddess, who preside;
over marriage and childbirth. 1t is, as you
sec, q rough hcwn wooden idol and nothing
more. They seem to see gods everywhere,
and yet they have no conception of Il
god like VIC have. In fact they have 10
word in their language for the Divinit :.
They have o Good Principle, which they neg
lect, and a Bad Principle, which they are
continually propitiating by sacrifices and
offerings They fear the latter, you sec, rot
the former. AN contemplating a journey
to the United States next year with o fresh
troupe, which may prove Of greater interest
to Americans have Ecesl promised q band
Of seventy sable virgins from tho king Of
Dahomcys army Of Amazons'
THEODORE STANTON
Origin OF Popular Song.